Jammu, Oct 19: Raising immense health concerns, a new virus outbreak has been fast spreading across Jammu region with over 670 cases of infection being reported in the major Jammu hospitals on a daily basis.
The health officials revealed that Government Medical College and Hospital (GMC&H), Jammu, SMGS Hospital, the premier maternity and paediatric institute of this region and the Gandhi Nagar Hospital have been receiving an increasing number of the infected patients each day.
“Due to upsurge in number of patients, mainly the ones affected by dengue and other viruses, we had reserved wards in both GMC and the SMGS Hospital but all these wards are now packed with such patients beyond their capacity,” GMC Principal, Dr Ashutosh, told Rising Kashmir, while adding, “We will now reserve more wards in our hospitals which will be fully dedicated to such patients, especially for the ones affected with these viruses”.
The paediatric ward at SMGS and ward number-3 at GMC have been packed with the infected patients. Sensing the urgency of the situation, the health department has also issued a helpline number-104 for such patients so that they could be guided by the experts.
A senior doctor at the GMC-Jammu, Dr Harjeet Rai, said that the GMC and the SMGS Hospitals have been witnessing huge rush in the OPDs with such patients.
“There is around a 70% surge in the number of such patients reporting in our hospitals on a daily basis,” he said. Apart from helpline numbers, the health department has also put in place separate OPD services in the Jammu hospitals, besides providing free tests for such patients.
Astonishingly, around 700 to 800 patients affected with virus are reporting in the Jammu hospitals on a daily basis since the last one month.
“Out of these patients, around 120-130 are being tested positive for Dengue on a daily basis, while the rest are being found to be affected with this new virus ,” Dr Harjeet told Rising Kashmir.
The patient suffering from this virus experiences temperature for 4-5 days and in some cases around a week. “After this, the patient suffers from severe joint pain all over his body for 15-20 days and in some cases for around a month,” the health experts said, while adding, “The month of October is the peak month for this virus while the infection may subside after this month”.
